The British government will subsidize your job in porn

So long as it's a position behind the camera.

Britain’s current government is hardly known for tolerant and progressive attitudes toward pornography. But that hasn’t stopped Conservative politician Iain Duncan Smith from extending a hand to one sector of the adult entertainment industry: out-of-work porn auteurs.

Smith, the head of the UK’s Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), is granting wage subsidies to porn businesses that hire young, unemployed Brits. The initiative is aimed at reducing the youth unemployment rate, while simultaneously providing ambitious young filmmakers with the opportunity to take part in the next great porn blockbuster (even if it’s called Big Wet Asses 23)

Porn studios who hire unemployed youths full-time are eligible to receive a wage incentive of up to £2,275 per new hire and £1,100 for part-time hires, according to the International Business Times.

At first glance, the new initiative might appear forward-thinking. Unfortunately there’s a catch. The subsidies will only be offered for jobs behind the camera, like webcam operators or glamor photographers. The incentives won’t be offered to those looking to fill jobs in front of the camera, such as performers, lap/pole dancers, escorts, and something called “cat fighters” (your guess is as good as ours).

A spokesperson from the DWP said the guidelines were intended to protect unemployed young people from being exploited.

“This Government took action to ensure jobs in the adult industry which might exploit jobseekers were not advertised through Jobcentre Plus. We also ensured that to be eligible for our schemes jobs must not exploit vulnerable jobseekers.”

While that might seem like a pretty fancy way of saying “we don’t care all that much about sex workers,” the DWP’s restrictions have evidently not been all that effective. Last December, an escort adinadvertently popped up on the coalition’s jobs website.

EJ Dickson is a writer and editor who primarily covers sex, dating, and relationships, with a special focus on the intersection of intimacy and technology. She served as the Daily Dot’s IRL editor from January 2014 to July 2015. Her work has since appeared in the New York Times, Rolling Stone, Mic, Bustle, Romper, and Men’s Health.